U.S. UNDER-18 WOMEN’S NATIONAL TEAM

U.S. Under-18 Women’s National TeamIn 2008, the U.S. Under-18 Women’s National Team was reinstituted (after having existed from 1998-2001) to give international competition to players who have just finished a cycle with the U.S. U-17s, but are a year away from the next U-20 cycle.

The U-18 WNT provides a transition for a number of those players that could possibly make up the core of the team that would attempt to qualify for the following U-20 Women’s World Cup, or even contribute to the current cycle of U-20s. The U-18s also provide a proving ground for players in the U-20 pool who may be just below the core group training for the U-20 Women’s World Cup, giving them an environment to show that they are worthy of being pulled back into the top tier of U-20s.

In 2011, U.S. Soccer Women’s Technical Director April Heinrichs took over the program when the squad had three training camps and compiled a record of 2-1-1, which included two matches against top Chinese women’s club Shanghai FC.

Former Director of Coaching Education Dave Chesler coached the U-18s in 2009 and 2010, leading the squad to a 4-2-2 record in 2010 and a 4-0-3 record in 2009, which included a 5-1 victory against the Canadian U-20 WNT.

This year’s group of players, will have several domestic training camps. Several of the U-18s may be called into U-20 events as that group of players begins more intense preparations for the 2018 FIFA Under-20 Women’s World Cup.

Dean Duerst, who coached the U.S. U-17s in 2007, led the 2008 U-18s to a highly successful year, defeating three college teams and winning six games against European U-19s sides in Europe.

The U.S. U-18s had a nice run of success during the late 1990s, winning the 1999 Pan-American Games in Canada and going 14-0-3 during the year. Shannon Cirovski, a veteran of the USA’s 1991 FIFA Women’s World Cup championship team, was the first coach of the U-18s in 1998 before then U.S. Women’s National Team assistant coach Jay Hoffman grabbed the reins and guided the team to Pan-Am gold.